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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27245449">Darkness</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkNymfa/pseuds/DarkNymfa'>DarkNymfa</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ectoberweek 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Danny Phantom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Gen, Sequel, ectoberweek2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:34:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27245449</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkNymfa/pseuds/DarkNymfa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny, still new to being half-human, finds himself in a room with someone <i>almost</i> like him: a half-ghost.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ectoberweek 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984810</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>174</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Darkness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'm gonna be real with you guys, I just really wanted to write a sequel to Antonym where Vlad and Phantom meet, so...</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Well,” Danny said, humming thoughtfully.</p><p>“Well,” the other person agreed, his bright red eyes absurdly visible in the dark room they were in.</p><p>Since the man didn’t seem inclined to talk, Danny didn’t bother to, either. Instead he started peering around, blinking his own vivid green eyes. Even though his retained night vision usually did him little good, he was glad to have it, now. He highly doubted ordinary humans would’ve been able to see in the pitch black they were in.</p><p>Unfortunately, the room did not include any hints as to where he was, nor why he was here.</p><p>“You’re Danny, aren’t you?” the man suddenly asked, his red eyes narrowed. “The Fenton’s adopted son?”</p><p>Danny hummed. He wasn’t sure if he was <em>legally</em> adopted, the human world had so much complicated paperwork, but they certainly seemed intent on counting him as their son. “Yeah,” he finally agreed, figuring he should vocalize. “But I don’t think I know you. Do I?”</p><p>The man visibly considered that, weighing options against each other. Finally he offered a hand to Danny. “Vlad.”</p><p>“Well, you already know my name, obviously.” Danny shot him a grin as he took the hand and shook it. “But I’m Danny.”</p><p>“And you’re half-ghost,” Vlad said, a strange emphasis on the ‘half-ghost’. “Aren’t you?”</p><p>“Yeah, well, so are you,” Danny pointed out with a shrug. “I think that the more pressing questions are <em>“where are we?”</em> and <em>“how did we get here?”</em>, don’t you?”</p><p>Vlad hummed at that, expression somewhere between pleased and aggravated. <em>Someone</em> was digging for information, huh? “Yes, I suppose you’re right. You don’t know either, then?”</p><p>“Nope,” he agreed easily, taking his eyes off of Vlad to look around again. The room was empty and featureless, absolutely non-distinct in how bland it was. “But! I don’t think we’re in the Ghost Zone.”</p><p>“How can you tell?”</p><p>“Not nearly enough ectoplasm in the atmosphere.” Danny leaned over to knock on the wall. “And these are solid. Humans can go through walls in the Ghost Zone.”</p><p>“You seem to know a lot about the Ghost Zone.” Vlad’s eyes narrowed once more.</p><p>“Yeah, well.” Danny paused, reconsidered. Vlad didn’t <em>seem</em> like a ghost, not like him. Vlad seemed like a <em>human</em>. If Danny could become part human as a ghost, why couldn’t a <em>human</em> become part <em>ghost</em>? “I guess I spent a good bit of time there.”</p><p>“And your parents?” Vlad pressed, cold disinterest in his voice.</p><p>Danny snorted, dismissive. “You mean my biological parents? Dunno. Can’t remember them. That’s why the Fentons took me in, y’know? Now can we please focus on getting out of wherever this is before we continue the interrogation?”</p><p>“Yes, of course,” Vlad said, graciously. Like this was anything to be gracious <em>about</em>. Danny bet that if he’d been in full control of his powers he could’ve beaten the other half-ghost <em>easy</em>. But, alas. He was still fighting to control his core, never mind use his powers properly. He would have to settle for civilized human behavior.</p><p>“Good.” Danny turned away from Vlad, walking along the wall, one hand trailing over it. The whole thing felt solid in a uniquely <em>human</em> way. Definitely no ghosts involved here.</p><p>The door, when Danny reached it, was no less solid. He grabbed onto the rounded doorknob and jangled it, but there was no give. Definitely locked. “Yeah, we’re not getting out this way.”</p><p>Vlad, who <em>still hadn’t moved, the ass</em>, hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose we will have to use our powers to leave, then. I see no cameras of any sort, do you?”</p><p>“No,” Danny admitted, releasing the door and looking around just to be sure. “I suppose you’re right. Some intangibility and invisibility should get us out.”</p><p>“Yes, indeed.” Vlad crossed his arms, waiting for a moment before arching his brow at Danny. “Well, go on then.”</p><p>“Me?” He scoffed. “It was <em>your</em> idea. You go first.”</p><p>The man stared at him for a moment longer, his red eyes boring straight into Danny’s, before he sighed. “Fine, then. But only because I suspect I cannot hope to out-stubborn a teenager, let alone one raised by Jack Fenton.”</p><p>Danny quirked an eyebrow at that unexpected hostility. Sure, he’d only known Jack for a month or two, but still. He seemed like a good man.</p><p>Vlad’s transformation was similar to Danny’s own. A spark of light from the chest, from the core, forming into rings which passed over the body, and shifted it from one state to the other. Admittedly Vlad’s were bizarrely black, while still giving off light, but it didn’t really matter. Not now, at least.</p><p>No, Danny was far more interested in Vlad’s ghost form. He looked rather like a typical ghost, up to and including a thematic appearance. And <em>what</em> an appearance. Vlad had gone full vampire on his looks, with pale blue skin, empty red eyes, pointed ears and sharp fangs. His hair, black in ghost form, was swept up into gravity-defying points, and his clothing did not match the suit he’d been wearing at all.</p><p>Hell, the guy even wore a <em>cape</em>. What kinda person did that?</p><p>But… Vlad <em>had</em> gone and shifted to his ghost form, so Danny supposed he’d better follow suit. Mentally crossing his fingers that his powers would hold—his core was still settling back into proper stability after his accident—he called his core to the forefront of his existence. Light flashed as he, too, transformed into a ghost.</p><p>Vlad quirked an eyebrow at him, judgment heavy in the air. “A jumpsuit, boy, really? You are certainly a Fenton, aren’t you?”</p><p>“It’s <em>Phantom</em>, actually,” Danny correctly idly. “The jumpsuit is just a coincidence.” He lifted up from the floor, trying to judge how well his core was doing that day. “Now come on, I don’t have all day.”</p><p>“And you think I do?” Vlad scoffed, but started floating as well. “I will go first. I expect I will be more likely to recognize where we are than you.”</p><p>Well, he wasn’t <em>wrong</em>, but he didn’t have to be so haughty about it. “Sure, knock yourself out.” Danny swept out an arm in a wide arc to underline the statement, throwing in a sarcastic bow as well.</p><p>The gesture clearly wasn’t lost on Vlad, but he apparently made the choice to ignore it, flying towards one of the walls and flickering invisible before he hit it. With a roll of his eyes, Danny followed, focusing his senses on the feel of Vlad’s core so he could track the man while invisible.</p><p>Outside it was… also dark, admittedly, but not as hopelessly pitch-black as inside. A glance upwards confirmed that it was a regular dark—stars barely visible due to a nearby city, and the new moon that was supposed to come that night.</p><p>Vlad was still nearby, although invisible, so Danny let himself drift over. “Well,” he said when he was close enough, keeping his voice low since they were still invisible. “I don’t think we missed much time. The moon phase is correct.”</p><p>“Hm. And what do you know of where we are?” Vlad asked, a tone of curiosity layered under the smarminess of his voice. “Or have you spent all your time looking up?”</p><p>“I thought <em>you</em> were going to focus on our location?” Danny shook his head, realized Vlad couldn’t see, then decided to look around anyway.</p><p>And, huh.</p><p>“Well, at least we’re not far from home,” he said, feebly.</p><p>They were on the outskirts of Amity Park.</p><p>“You aren’t, no.” Vlad huffed, a sound of displeasure. “Unlike you, however, <em>I</em> live in Wisconsin.”</p><p>Cool. That meant very little to Danny. He was pretty sure that it was a state in the country he was living in, but where, or how far away it was? Absolutely meaningless.</p><p>“Okay, well… If you know the Fentons you can probably stay over?” He let his invisibility drop, since the strain on his core was rather unnecessary. The people of Amity Park didn’t look up enough to care about ghosts in the sky. “And if you didn’t… Well, they probably would let you stay over anyway. They’d love to talk more about your half-ghost-ness.”</p><p>“Joy,” Vlad muttered, and he could not possibly have put more distaste in the word. “And you do not care to stay invisible, then?”</p><p>“I can’t keep it up forever, dude.” Danny shrugged, letting his legs blend away into a tail as he drifted in the direction towards home. “Besides, I know Amity Park. It’s a safe place to fly without invisibility, trust me.”</p><p>Vlad scoffed, but dropped his invisibility as well. “Very well, then. Lead on.”</p><p>Danny nodded back, then shifted into proper flight, making sure to keep his speed fairly low. As annoying as it was to have to hold back, he knew he couldn’t make full use of his powers, not while his core was still recovering from the transition. One day, hopefully, he’d get back to his prior strength.</p><p>Still, that <em>did</em> make him wonder. It definitely seemed like Vlad was a human who’d become half-ghost. How did that work, compared to Danny himself? How strong was Vlad? Did he need to wait for his core to mature the usual way? That almost seemed easier to Danny than what he was going through. A slow progressive growth, rather than having all these powers and not having the power to <em>use</em> them.</p><p>And Vlad had conveniently skipped around explaining how he knew the Fentons, too. Honestly, he was kind of giving Danny the creeps. Something about his behavior was just… off. Weird.</p><p>Or maybe that was just how slimy he was, how haughty, how superior. Yugh.</p><p>Vlad didn’t try talking to him while they were flying to FentonWorks, although he <em>did</em> raise a questioning eyebrow at the neon sign when they landed behind it.</p><p>“The glow of the sign will hide our light,” Danny explained with a shrug. He’d been told by Jazz that the sign was an oddity among humans, but he didn’t think it was that weird. “We can enter the house through the door up here.”</p><p>“Why not phase inside?” Vlad asked, crossing his arms. “That way <em>no one</em> will see us.”</p><p>“True. But it’s also rude to go inside without announcing yourself.” Danny grinned at Vlad, displaying his own sharp teeth, before releasing his core to shift back to human form. The flashing light was barely visible beyond the glow of the sign. “Coming, Vlad?”</p><p>The other half-ghost sighed, making a motion like rolling his eyes—despite the fact that they were empty in his ghost form—but transformed back into human form as well. “I would’ve thought that using ghost powers meant we were no longer following human sensibilities, but it’s your house.”</p><p>Human sensibilities? What, has no one ever told this guy the rules of lairs in the Ghost Zone? Yikes. “You <em>do</em> realize that it’s a thing in the Ghost Zone too, right? Not randomly wandering into people’s lairs?”</p><p>“And how would <em>you</em> know?” Vlad sneered back, his eyes dark for the first time since Danny had met him. “You’re what, fourteen? And clearly new to being half-ghost, too.”</p><p>“Yeah!” Danny snapped, feeling his core kick up a notch. He was so <em>tired</em> of this asshole. “Yeah, I’m new to being half-ghost! Because I was a <em>full</em> ghost before this!”</p><p>He leaned in closer to Vlad, seeing the reflection of his glowing eyes in Vlad’s. “Just because <em>you</em> think you’re a big deal doesn’t mean you <em>are</em>. You don’t know shit, <em>Vlad</em>.”</p><p>Satisfied that he’d gotten his point across, Danny whirled around, pulling open the door and climbing down the stairs. After a moment, he heard Vlad follow.</p><p>“You are… a ghost turned half-human?” Vlad asked, quietly. “Not the reverse?”</p><p>“Not like you, no,” Danny confirmed, opening the door to the upper floor hallway. “But the Fentons will still want to talk to you.”</p><p>“No.” Vlad stopped before crossing the door. Danny, too, stopped, turning around to face Vlad again. “No, I don’t think that that’s going to happen.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I thought I had found someone like me. For that, I was willing to put up with Jack Fenton, at least for the moment. But now?” Vlad scoffed, a derisive sound. “For a poor ghostly imitation? No, certainly not. Goodbye, Phantom.”</p><p>With that, Vlad whirled around, vanishing from sight. Danny could still track his core—apparently Vlad had shifted forms almost immediately—but he was, in fact, leaving.</p><p>“Well. That just happened,” Danny muttered to himself as Vlad left the premises entirely. “Wonder what the chances are that the Fentons know more than one guy named Vlad.”</p><p>He shrugged to himself, continuing down to the living room, where his family waited. Guess he had some more mysteries to solve now.</p><p>Like that room. What the fuck was up with that?</p>
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